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Matt Fitzpatrick is chasing now and that probably contributes to his pulled approach on the 15th. The Englishman gets up and down though from the left of the green and that just about keeps him in the frame.

Rory McIlroy finds the trees on the 12th and then plays an almighty hook to escape and blast his ball up towards the dance floor.

It's not far from being perfect, but just comes up short and he may well be in the sand again, but it's a decent miss there.

Manuel Elvira gets his reward for a glorious wedge into the eighth as his ball spins into around a foot.

The birdie that follows puts the Spaniard one shot off the lead.

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Rory McIlroy tries a little floater from the semi rough but there's not enough juice on that and his ball catches the bump and squirts back down into the greenside bunker.

The Northern Irishman then clips around seven feet past but makes the return to limit the damage to a single stroke.

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Alex Noren recently joined European captain Luke Donald and 15 other players for an early scouting trip to Adare Manor, prior to next year's Ryder Cup.

And if he plays like this over the next 12 month's who is to say he won't be in the team after being one of the vice captains last time around.

The Swede drains a 12-foot putt for birdie and is now just two back.

It's a 68 to finish for Ireland's Shane Lowry - his best round of the week but he left himself too much to do.

He's only four off the lead but it's so congested up there that he's only tied for 20th.

Scotland's Robert MacIntyre has fallen away, back-to-back bogies knocking him back to -10.

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Rory McIlroy looks disgusted with himself. Playing out of the fairway bunker on the 11th, his approach drifts left and appears to have either found more sand or the semi-rough before the green.

Good up and down needed.

Aaron Rai's putter is very hot at the moment.

He normally makes another superb birdie putt - on this occasion it stays up but the Englishman stays top of the leaderboard with more scoring chances to come.

An absolute shocker from Joaquin Niemann on the ninth. The Chilean hits a wayward tee shot left and incurs a penalty.

And when he reloads he finds the rough down the right.His approach from there comes up well short and he then misses a putt for a double bogey, meaning he walks off with a seven.

That may well have torpedoed his hopes of victory.

This feels like a must-make putt for Ryan Fox in the 13th. It's from par from around 12 feet and he escapes without dropping a shot.

Matt Fitzpatrick is up next looking for a fourth consecutive birdie but that doesn't break left.

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A third birdie in a row for England's Aaron Rai and he's emerged from this swathe of players to take the lead.

The major winner is running out of holes but if he can make up a couple more shots from the final four holes he'll have a chance.

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This is a slippery putt that breaks from left to right and Rory McIlroy starts his effort far too low for that to drop in for another birdie.

What do we reckon the winning score is then folks? I'm going with 18 under par.

Back-to-back birdies puts Aaron Rai at the top of the three, alongside Joaquin Niemann and Joost Luiten - who's in the clubhouse.

Two of Rai's fellow Englishman - Ross Fisher and Alex Fitzpatrick - have secured themselves decent paydays. They've both recorded five-under-par rounds of 67.

For Fisher it was an eagle on the 18th to leap up -12 for a tie for 11th, as things stand. Alex Fitzpatrick has finished a shot back.

Iain Carter
BBC golf correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3 at Wentworth

I'm not surprised about Joaquin Niemann because I would say of the players on that leaderboard you'd have to say Rai, Fox, McIlroy, Niemann and Spaun are the ones.

If you're picking your potential winners that's who you'd look at.

Who knows which way it'll go, but I think -17 is a score that can win this - for Niemann to score that he needed a 66 today and he's on course.

Never in doubt. Joaquin Niemann has already made a couple of putts like this today and dispatches another right into the heart of the cup from 10 feet.

It's his fourth birdie in five holes and he jumps to the top of the leaderboard with Joost Luiten, who is already in the clubhouse.

After three pars in a row, Aaron Rai reminds us he hasn't gone away with a birdie on the favourable par-five 12th.

The Englishman is just a shot off the lead - but so are the likes of Ryan Fox, Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun, and four others.

I reckon Rai will still need a massive finish to have a chance.

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Ryan Fox has just done one of those mid-round interviews where he talked of the need to carry on attacking the course. but a bogey on the 11th after missing a five-footer for par definitely was not part of the plan.

Meanwhile, his playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick has jumped on the birdie train with a couple on the spin.

Chile's Joaquin Niemann has pleny of professional wins to his name and probably has the game to win a major. Still, he's only 27 and has time on his side.

His iron play is wonderful and when his looping approach spins back to a foot on the sixth it's a third straight birdie.

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Joost Luiten signs off with a birdie on the 18th. It means he has the clubhouse lead but will it be enough.

With some of the pin positions today, I'm guessing he's maybe a couple of shots short but he seems happy enough and chucks his ball to a fan as he heads off the green.